Sunday, March 30, 2014

Cougar Communication: Edcamp Reflection, Geddit

 Excellence in Education
As you know, I had the opportunity to participate in another edcamp this weekend. These always energize me for two reasons: 1) I learn new things that I can’t wait to try or implement; 2) I realize how fortunate I am to work with such a phenomenal staff and great students.

Looking back I wanted to let you all know about some of the bragging I did about Kettle Run and you.
  • While not absolute, our faculty gets along with each other!
  •  Our principal fosters a spirit of collegiality, teamwork and is willing to listen!
  •  Our professional development in October followed the edcamp model and it rocked!
  • Teachers benefit from a great amount of classroom autonomy!
  • Teachers are willing and encouraged to take risks!
  • Our parents and students are actively involved in Kettle Run!
Thanks for being awesome and giving me the chance to brag!

Tech Idea of the Month: Geddit
I know our BYOD still lacks something because of the inability for students to routinely get online, but I wanted to share a new BYOD program/app with you.

It’s similar to Socrative, PollEverywhere and Celly, which I’ve shared before.

What it does:
  • Gather feedback from students as part of the formative assessment-feedback loop.
  • Your questions go to the students’ devices (multiple choice, short answer). Students join classes by entering a class code.
  • Answers are displayed in a graph format or listed individually for each student.
  • Questions can include pictures.



 The idea comes from Richard Byrne’s Free Tech for Teachers http://goo.gl/kPDSR9

Administrative Stuff
Most of you are doing a phenomenal job of using BlackBoard for posting grades. We’ve received lots of positive comments from parents and students. Thanks!

Even with BlackBoard use, we ask that you please contact parents of any student who is receiving a D or F in your class. As you know, it’s extremely important to engage parents in the education of their children.

We’ll be adding a 3rd faculty meeting option this week to help avoid conflicts. I’m still working out the details.

Tonight’s #vachat topic: What Matters in Education?


Upcoming Kettle Run Events/Schedule   
Tuesday:                    Beware of April Fool’s Day (don’t say I didn’t warn you)
                                    FLEX (meeting for students participating in Career Shadowing)
                                    Faculty Meeting
                                     
Wednesday:               Faculty Meeting

Thursday:                  FLEX


                                   




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